CHAPTER 10

(A.D. 32)

THE SEVENTY

¹After these things (the things of the previous Chapter), the Lord appointed other seventy also (other than the Twelve; this was done toward the close of His Ministry; as well, it was the Lord Who appointed, and pertains to that which man cannot do; Why seventy? It is Gods number representing His Spirit-Anointed Ministry), and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come (when the Lord sends Preachers to certain places, it is because He desires to come there; the people must not forget this).

²Therefore said He unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few (this tells us that the Salvation of souls is a priority with the Lord; in fact, for everyone who doesnt have the privilege to hear, as far as that person is concerned, Jesus died in vain; there are many engaged in the fishing business, but very few who are actually fishing): pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest (prayer must be the foundation on which the harvest is gathered; as well, we must remember that it is Jesus Christ Who is the Lord of the harvest), that He would send forth labourers into His harvest (if there are no labourers, the harvest cannot be gathered).

³Go your ways (respects those whom the Lord has called, and concerns where they are sent): behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves (no shepherd deliberately sends his sheep among wolves, but this Shepherd can because He is almighty to save [Ps., Chpt. 23]).

⁴Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes (God will provide): and salute no man by the way (do not be deterred from the mission at hand).

⁵And into whatsoever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house (proclaims a Blessing promised by the Lord to any who aid and abet those He has called, providing they are carrying out the Great Commission).

⁶And if the son of peace be there (refers to one who desires the Blessings of the Lord, attempting to serve in any capacity possible), your peace shall rest upon it (the Blessing will be given): if not, it shall turn to you again (any hindrance to this all-important task stops the Blessings of God).

⁷And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give (pertains not only to a single house, but the field of ministry assigned by the Lord): for the labourer is worthy of his hire (this is the only quotation in the Epistles from the Gospel [I Tim. 5:18]). Go not from house to house (in modern times, it refers to Preachers seeking better Churches simply because they pay more money; money is never to be the object, but rather the Call of God and wherever that leads).

⁸And into whatsoever city you enter, and they receive you (implies that some will not receive the Gospel), eat such things as are set before you (and dont complain):

⁹And heal the sick who are therein (pertains to both physical and spiritual, a Part of the Blessing), and say unto them, The Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you (the greatest thing that could ever happen to any family or place).

¹⁰But into whatsoever city you enter (to where the Lord has sent you), and they receive you not (implying that this will be the case at times), go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say (that which is not desired is not to be given),

¹¹Even the very dust of your city, which cleaves on us, we do wipe off against you (the idea is the Lord keeps a careful record): notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you (it is imperative that all have the opportunity to hear, but woe be unto those who reject Christ; the Great White Throne Judgment will record the rejection [Rev. 20:11-15]).

¹²But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day (the Great White Throne Judgment) for Sodom, than for that city (the cities of which Jesus speaks have heard the Gospel; Sodom did not have that opportunity).

¹³Woe unto You, Chorazin! woe unto You, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes (these are two cities where Jesus had performed mighty works the greatest works in the history of mankind; men will be judged not only for what they have done or failed to do, but their opportunities, their circumstances, their chances in life, will be strictly taken into account before they are judged).

¹⁴But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you (these twin cities did not see the Power of God as did those spoken of by Christ; cities and places which have had little opportunity will not be spared, but will not be judged as harshly).

¹⁵And You, Capernaum, which are exalted to Heaven (chosen by the Holy Spirit as the headquarters of Christ during His earthly Ministry), shall be thrust down to hell (constitutes the most severe pronounced punishment).

¹⁶He who hears you hears Me (proclaims Spiritual Authority given to the Messenger of the Lord); and He who despises you despises Me (fearsome indeed!); and he who despises Me despises Him Who sent Me (God the Father; these are most serious statements; in fact, some of the most serious ever uttered by Christ).

THE SEVENTY RETURN

¹⁷And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils (demons) are subject unto us through Your Name (demons are subject to us only through His Name).

¹⁸And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven (by the Power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus saw into the future, observing Satan as he will be cast out of Heaven at the approximate mid-point of the coming Great Tribulation [Rev. 12:9]).

¹⁹Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you (this is the domain of Spiritual Authority; it is only over spirit beings, and not at all over humans).

²⁰Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you (this should not be the occasion of our joy); but rather rejoice, because your names are written in Heaven (tells us that the Salvation of the soul must always be the occasion for rejoicing; when the Church rejoices more over other things than people being Saved, something is wrong).

²¹In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit (actually means in the Greek Text that Jesus greatly exulted in the Holy Spirit, which spoke of a great joy like a fountain springing up that came from the depths of His Soul; as the previous Verses proclaim, He saw the total and complete victory that would come about as a result of the Cross), and said, I thank You, O Father, Lord of Hea ven and Earth (Satan is not the lord of either place, but rather God the Father), that You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes (the religious hierarchy never saw this of which Jesus spoke, but these fishermen chosen by Christ did): even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Your sight (unfortunately, far too much of the modern Church labels things good that God labels otherwise).

²²All things are delivered to Me of My Father (refers to Jesus being given the responsibility by the Father for defeating Satan and putting down his evil revolution, which would be done at the Cross): and no man knows Who the Son is, but the Father (means that Jesus is of the Father, and not of man); and Who the Father is, but the Son (no man can reach the Father, or even know Who the Father is, except through the Son, i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Alone is the Door [Jn. 10:9]), and he to whom the Son will reveal Him (Salvation is not a matter of education, but of Revelation).

²³And He turned Him unto His Disciples, and said privately (refers to not only the Twelve, but the Seventy also), Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see (He is speaking of seeing with the eye of faith, and believing what is seen):

²⁴For I tell you, that many Prophets and Kings have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them (He is speaking here of all the Old Testament greats who pointed to His Coming, but of course, did not live to see such; but they believed just the same! as well, tens of thousands during Jesus public Ministry did see and hear, but still would not believe; this shows that faith is not in the senses, but rather in the heart).

THE GOOD SAMARITAN

²⁵And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up (one who was supposed to be expert in the Mosaic Law), and tempted Him (means that he would test the Lords knowledge of the Law; he did not know that Jesus was the Law), saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? (This so-called expert in the Law was evidently not much of an expert at all, or He would have used the word merit and not inherit; inheritance is by birth; Eternal Life is mans greatest interest, and no more tremendous question could be asked than that of this Verse.)

²⁶He said unto him, What is written in the Law? (This presents Jesus immediately pointing to the Bible as the infallible authority.) how readest thou? (Jesus was speaking not only of knowing the Word, but properly understanding it as well.)

²⁷And He answering said, You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself (this is quoted from Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18).

²⁸And He (Jesus) said unto him, You have answered right (proclaims Christ, in effect, saying, you know it, but you are not doing it): this do, and you shall live (means that he was not doing what he knew to do; in fact, it wasnt possible for him, or anyone else for that matter, to fully obey the Law; so there was no Salvation in this direction).

²⁹But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour? (This statement discovers the character of the lawyer. He was self-righteous. He was determined to win Heaven by religious self-efforts.)

³⁰And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

³¹And by chance there came down a certain Priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side (selfishness is the commanding force in human nature).

³²And likewise a Levite (spoke of those who were of the tribe of Levi), when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side (proclaims this man at least looking on, while the Priest did not even bother with that).

³³But a certain Samaritan (the Samaritans and the Jews normally were enemies), as he journeyed, came where he was (where the wounded Israelite was): and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

³⁴And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine (in those days, a wound was cleansed with grape-juice, with oil then applied, which aided healing), and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him (tells us that this wounded traveler was not rich and, therefore, could not possibly repay the kindness extended to him).

³⁵And on the morrow when he (the good Samaritan) departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you.

³⁶Which now of these three (the three men who came in contact with the wounded traveler), do you think, was neighbour unto him who fell among the thieves?

³⁷And he said, He who showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise (another lesson taught in this Parable is that some need to be placed in the position of the wounded traveler in order that they be willing to receive help from anyone, even the hated Samaritan).

MARY AND MARTHA

³⁸Now it came to pass, as they went, that He entered into a certain village (speaks of Bethany [Jn. 11:1; 12:1-3], a suburb of Jerusalem): and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house.

³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus feet, and heard His Word (sitting at Jesus feet is a safe refuge from assaults upon the authority and inspiration of the Scriptures).

⁴⁰But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me (had Martha fully realized that Jesus was Jehovah, she never would have spoken so petulantly to Him).

⁴¹And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha (is said in pitying love), you are careful and troubled about many things (concerned things which were important, but not the most important!):

⁴²But one thing is needful (proclaims to us the Mind of God, and tells us where all victory is): and Mary has chosen that good part (means that this is a choice), which shall not be taken away from her (the greatest thing is communion with Christ).